Jules Dassin

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Julius "Jules" Dassin (December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film director, producer, writer and actor. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France, where he revived his career. Dassin quickly became better known for his noir films Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves' Highway (1949), which helped him to become "one of the leading American filmmakers of the postwar era." Dassin's most influential film was Rififi (1955), an early work in the "heist film" genre. It inspired later heist films, such as Ocean's Eleven (1960). Another piece it inspired was Dassin's own heist film Topkapi, filmed in France and Istanbul, Turkey with Melina Mercouri and Oscar winner Peter Ustinov. Dassin said Darryl F. Zanuck in 1948 called him into his office to inform him he would be blacklisted, but he still had enough time to make a movie for Fox. Dassin was blacklisted in Hollywood during the production of Night and the City (1950). He was not allowed on the studio property to edit or oversee the musical score for the film. He also had trouble finding work abroad, as U.S. dist…

Directed

1. Rififi (1955) — Director
2. Night and the City (1950) — Director
3. The Naked City (1948) — Director
4. Topkapi (1964) — Director
5. Brute Force (1947) — Director
6. Thieves' Highway (1949) — Director
7. Never on Sunday (1960) — Director
8. The Canterville Ghost (1944) — Director
9. Phaedra (1962) — Director
10. 10:30 P.M. Summer (1966) — Director
11. The Law (1959) — Director
12. Reunion in France (1942) — Director
13. Uptight (1968) — Director
14. He Who Must Die (1957) — Director
15. The Tell-Tale Heart (1941) — Director
16. Nazi Agent (1942) — Director
17. Two Smart People (1946) — Director
18. Circle of Two (1981) — Director
19. Promise at Dawn (1970) — Director
20. A Letter for Evie (1946) — Director
21. The Affairs of Martha (1942) — Director
22. A Dream of Passion (1978) — Director
23. Young Ideas (1943) — Director
24. The Rehearsal (1974) — Director
25. Survival 1967 (1968) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Rififi (1955) — Cesar le Milanais
2. Topkapi (1964) — Turkish Cop (uncredited)
3. Thieves' Highway (1949) — Man in Freight Elevator (uncredited)
4. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) — Self
5. Never on Sunday (1960) — Homer Thrace
6. Phaedra (1962) — Christos (uncredited)
7. Promise at Dawn (1970) — Ivan Mosjukine
8. Champs-Elysées (1982) — Self
9. Filmmakers in Action (2006) — Self
10. Le Grand Échiquier (1972) — Self
11. Cinépanorama (1956) — Self
12. The Long Haul of A.I. Bezzerides (2005) — Narrator (voice)
13. Les Rendez-vous du dimanche (1975) — Self
14. Discorama (1959) — Self
15. Buzz (2005)
16. Urok Francuzskogo (2008) — Himself
17. Elective Vicissitudes: The Radical Exiles of Jules Dassin (2023) — Himself
18. Balkan Landscapes: The Gaze of Theo Angelopoulos (1993) — Himself
19. Theo Angelopoulos: A Lifework in Film
20. The Hollywood Blacklist: The Survivors Tell Their Stories (2026) — self